Outlive
by Drakestress
Summary: Ever since Day Zero, when the outbreak first started, and her family was killed, Lauren Muran has been all alone. And to be all alone in a world of flesh eaters, one must learn how to survive or die. Fortunately, Lauren has made the choice to live. (This is a story with original characters and an original plotline)
1. Chapter 1: The Stranger

It had been five years now since the outbreak, Day Zero as people called it, when the dead started making meals of the living. Five years and things still hadn't gotten better. No one knew how it started. Some said it was a government experiment gone wrong or a mutated strain of rabies. Others claim it was God's wrath punishing us for all of our wrongdoings. As for me, I didn't really care how it all started, all I cared about was staying alive.

I tightened my grip on the hilt of my katana sword as I slowly peered out from my hiding spot behind the counter of a rundown gas station. I came here hoping to find food or medicine but I hadn't found anything. I had been just about to leave when something knocked over an old display stand.

"Shit."

Three figures slowly shuffled about the empty shelves, kicking the garbage that was strewn on the floor.

The closest one to me was about four meters away. Half of his face was ripped off. Whatever did it must not have damaged his brain because he was still up and moving around. He wore a bloodstained plaid shirt and tan pants which told me nothing about his previous life. He could have been anyone.

The next zombie looked like she had been about my age when she died. She had short, scraggly, brown hair and she wore a Raider's outfit that was covered in dirt and spattered in blood. She looked recently turned, not so rotten, and I could see a bite mark on her arm. I couldn't imagine what she must have gone through to get to this. Poor thing. She shuffled around mindlessly, occasionally bumping into things and moaning softly.

'No don't think like that.' I thought to myself. These things weren't people anymore. Whatever used to make them human was long gone. Now, they were nothing but animalistic masses of decaying flesh that had no other thought than to devour whatever was in sight. Hundreds of people had died because they had believed that the loved ones and friends who had turned somehow kept a bit of themselves deep inside.

I forced myself to look away from the girl and focus my attention to the last zombie, a massive brute of pure decomposition and muscle clothed in a tattered military uniform. I groaned inwardly to myself.

"Great, just great. How am I going to handle you?" Somehow only strength seemed to pass through the process of zombification. The bigger and stronger a person was in life, the bigger and stronger a person would be in death.

I pulled myself back behind the counter.

In my backpack was a pistol that I always kept on me. I weighed the idea of using it, but common sense won out. A loud gunshot would attract every single zombie nearby. One thing I had learned over the years: silence is always better.

I took a deep shaky breath and slowly reached a hand up behind me and drew my katana out of its sheath nestled between my shoulder blades, being careful not to let the metal clang against anything. Slowly, cautiously, I stood up to face the zombies.

All three of them had their backs to me. I smiled. Perfect. I slowly crept up to the closest rotten corpse, careful not to bump into anything and positioned the tip of my blade at the base of his skull. His rotten smell filled my nose.

"Sorry about this mate" I said softly, before sharply thrusting my katana into the base of his skull and severing the spinal cord. I pulled my blade back out and the corpse fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"One down, two to go."

I turned, ready to take down the next zombie, but what I saw made my stomach fill with icy dread. The first zombie must have made more noise going down than I had initially thought because the other two were heading straight for me.

I backed up a few steps and held my katana sideways in front of me in a defensive position. The girl got to me first, reaching out a gray, decomposing, arm to grab me. I slashed at her arms. My sword cut cleanly through the rotting tissue and bone and her arm fell to the ground with the signature slap of flesh smacking onto linoleum.

The stump that remained of her arm didn't bleed and the zombie didn't show any sign of pain or care for her severed arm. She kept stumbling forward. I switched tactics, dropping into a crouch and swinging my leg around to knock out her knees. Her legs buckled, sending her to the ground. I sprung to my feet, swung my katana up, and brought it down hard on her head. She stopped moving for good.

I whirled around, ready to face the third zombie, my heart pumping in my chest like it wanted to escape, but I couldn't see him. A bad feeling settled in my gut. A zombie you can't see can be the most dangerous zombie there is. Before I could do anything, cold, dead, hands grabbed me from behind. I twisted sharply to the side breaking free of the grip. As I turned I could hear the clack of teeth as the zombie bit down on empty air where my shoulder had been.

I ran forward a few steps before twirling around to face the monster. He stood there for a few moments, staring at me and swaying from side to side with a strange twitching motion. Then he let out a screeching moan that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and starting sprinting towards me with inhuman speed.

"Not a Runner!" I groaned. For the longest time zombies were all the same. They lumbered around slowly and mindlessly. Then, about a year ago, new ones started popping up. Able to run faster than most humans, they wiping out survivors, reducing the already small number of humans left on earth by almost half.

I took up my defensive position and braced myself for his attack. He came barreling forward a loud growling ripping from his throat. I took a step back at his approach my confidence faltering slightly at the speed with which he ran. I had never really faced a runner indoors. Just before he hit me a loud bang rang out through the air and the Runner's head exploded, showering me with rotten brain and decomposing goo.

I stood frozen in shock and out of breath from a mixture of fear and exertion. I looked up from the zombie and saw a brown- haired boy standing in the doorway. He held a sawed off shotgun that was still aimed at where the zombie had been a moment earlier. He lowered it with a small smile.

"You're welcome." He said.


	2. Chapter 2: Teaming Up

I stared at him not entirely sure of what to do. My instincts were screaming at me to run, to get out of there. For all I knew this guy could turn his gun on me next, but this mysterious boy stood in front of the store's entrance and my freedom.

I took a step back my eyes darting wildly around for an exit, any possible means of escape. He must have noticed my fear and unease because he took a slight step forward, his hands held up in front of his body in a nonviolent gesture.

"Hey, it's okay," he said slowly. "I'm, not going to hurt you."

He took another slow step, then another. When he was about five meters away from me I looked behind him at the distance between him, the exit, and me. I made a few quick calculations in my head. Satisfied with the results, I made my move.

I started running down the aisle, straight towards this stranger-boy. Right before I reached him, I jumped to the side and used one of the empty shelves to push off. I tucked my body into a roll that sent me right over the guy's head and landed on my feet just behind him.

I didn't hesitate, I ran. I ran out of the drug store, broken glass from the sliding doors crunching under my feet, and out into the open.

"Hey, stop!" He yelled from behind me.

I didn't listen, I just kept running. I had chosen this town to loot because it was small, not too many large buildings, and because I thought it might still have supplies. Now I was scanning the buildings for what I needed to make my escape.

"There!" I thought, spotting an alleyway between a two story brick hardware store and what looked to be a gym. I sprinted down it and saw what I was looking for. About eight feet above my head were the bottom rungs of an old, rusted fire escape. I backed up a step then ran forward. I pushed off of one wall of the alleyway, the force brought me to the other side of the alley where I pushed off again, to grabbing the bottom rung of the fire escape with my fingers.

I quickly started to climb, bits of rust crumbling away from the rungs into my hands. I looked over my shoulder once to see that the boy had followed me and was now staring at me from the entrance of the alley with his mouth hanging open.

I smirked. There was no way he was going to be able to get up here himself. I climbed the rest of the way up and reached the roof. Straightening, I did a quick check on my surroundings. As far as I could tell I was in the middle of town. A road of houses branched off directly in front of me and the road to the right and left was lined with nothing but shops and stores. There wasn't a zombie to be seen. The guy's gun blast should have drawn them in, where were they?

I was interrupted from my thoughts by a loud clang. Looking down I saw that the boy had somehow managed to get to the bottom rung of the fire escape. His face was red and sweaty from the effort. As soon as he was sure of his grip he climbed up.

I backed up from the edge of the roof as he pulled himself onto it. I was about to turn and run but I didn't know where I could. I had considered jumping to the roof of the neighboring building, and was about to do just that, when he spoke.

"No wait, please don't go. You're the first living human I've seen in a long time who doesn't want to kill me."

I froze and turned around. Those didn't sound like the sort of words a Raider would say. I studied him closely up and down. He wore tan cargo pants and a dark green long-sleeved shirt. He had a bow slung over his shoulder and a hiker's backpack on. His hair was brown, and badly in need of a trim. He had light brown eyes, and soft features and a square jaw. His clothing was a little frayed, torn, and dirty.

"How do you know I don't want to kill you?" I snapped, flinching at how raspy and underused my voice sounded.

He smiled a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "If you wanted to kill me I'd already be dead."

I pondered this for a moment before nodding. "Fair enough." I paused squinting my eyes at him, "How do I know that you aren't going to kill me?"

He shrugged, "You don't."

I looked at him for a while. He stood casually and held himself with an air of confidence. Even so something in the way he stood seemed like he was inexperienced and weak.

"Fine." I said

He raised an eyebrow. "Fine what?"

I relaxed my tense stance. "I won't kill you, but if you even think about trying anything, you'll be dead before you take your next breath."

"Sounds fair," he said. He held out a hand. "I'm Andy by the way."

I stared at his hand until he let it drop. He cleared his throat awkwardly and reached a hand up to scratch the back of his neck.

"And you are-?"

"Why does it matter?"

"If someone comes into my town I'd like to know who they are" he replied casually.

I scowled at him "Your town? What makes this your town?"

He gestured around. "Do see anyone else?"

I glanced around the area again. I could see one or two zombies shuffling around now but not nearly as many as there should be after a gunshot.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't have time for this." I muttered. I walked back to the fire escape pushing past Andy as I did so.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked following close behind me.

"Anywhere but here," I said not feeling in the mood to explain myself.

I descended the ladder quickly and peered out of the alley. I couldn't see any zombies close to me so I started my way to the houses across the street. There might be some canned food or other useful supplies in one of them.

I could hear Andy following me and I groaned. I turned around quickly to confront him.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked sharply crossing my arms over my chest.

I had stopped quickly when I turned around and he almost ran into me.

"What?" he asked confused.

"I said, can I help you with something?" I replied putting emphasis on each word.

"I'm not quite sure I-"

"Why are you following me?" I snapped.

He shrugged.

I glared at him. "Leave me alone." I said.

"No," He said, crossing his arms.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

In one fluid motion I drew my katana, cleared the short distance between us, and pressed it against his throat. He didn't even have time to uncross his arms.

"Yes." I hissed.

He slowly uncrossed his arms and held them up. "Look, we'll have a better chance at surviving if we both work together."

I didn't remove my blade from his throat. "I've done just fine by myself."

"That was before the Runners though. Let's be honest here, if it wasn't for me, that Runner in the gas station would have killed you." He seemed to be struggling for words to try and dig himself out of this situation.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew he was right. You never want to face a Runner in an enclosed space and if you do you need a long range weapon and a hell of a lot of luck to truly be successful.

I glared at him for a while longer with my katana pressed to his throat before I pulled it away. He rubbed the spot where my blade had been.

"Fine I'll work together with you, but you do what I say when I say it. Got it? I didn't make it this far just to have some asshole get me killed."

He nodded and I thought I saw a look of triumph flash behind his eyes.

"Will you at least tell me your name now?"

I rolled my eyes "Lauren," I tossed over my shoulder as I started walking towards the houses again. "Now come on, we're going to go check those houses for supplies."


	3. Chapter 3: The Couple of Bones

We quickly made our way over to the house nearest to us, a white, two story building with boarded up windows and wildly overgrown grass in the front lawn.

I walked up the narrow stone path to the front door and stopped. Andy came up beside me and reached for the doorknob. I grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

"Are you trying to get us both killed?" I whispered fiercely.

"No?" He said, clearly confused.

"We have no idea what's in there and you think it's a good idea to just go waltzing in? How are you even alive right now pulling stunts like that?" I threw his wrist away from the door. I knew I was being harsh on him but if he kept making stupid mistakes like this, he's going to get himself killed.

I saw something flash behind his eyes, but it was there and gone so fast I couldn't place exactly what it was.

"Sorry," he muttered stepping back.

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the house. The windows were almost completely boarded up, save a single missing board on the bottom of the right-most window.

I walked over to the right window and crouched down in a long-since overgrown garden to peer inside. The room was a living room. A set of brown leather recliners sat on either side of a table with a lamp, the leather was starting to dry out and crack.

Pictures both hung on the wall and sat on the mantle above a wide fireplace, each one portraying the smiling faces of people probably long since dead. Everything was coated in dust.

It didn't look like it had been looted. Aside from being extremely dusty, still looked like a room someone might come back home to, tidy up, and go on living in. A looted room would be practically destroyed. You see, people aren't usually so concerned about neatness when they're starving and desperate to find supplies.

I watched the room carefully for several long minutes looking for any signs of movement in the house. After a while I stood back up and went over Andy who had sat down with his back against the door.

"Alright, I think we can go in but get your weapons ready. I didn't see anything dangerous from the window but that doesn't say anything about what's really inside. We need to make sure every room is clear before we can start searching for supplies. Understand?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not a child you know. I know how to loot a house."

"And yet you tried to walk in without checking if it was safe first." I countered.

He dropped his eyes and didn't say anything.

"Exactly" I said. I turned back to face the door of the house. I spoke to Andy without looking back at him.

"Remember, gun ready, clear each room." I placed my hand on the cool doorknob hopping a wild hope that it wouldn't be locked. This house looked promising and I didn't want to create zombie-attracting noise by having to bust down the door or windows.

"Ready?" I asked glancing back at Andy.

He nodded and raised his shotgun, aiming it at the door.

I twisted the doorknob and it miraculously opened, the door swinging inwards. I quickly reached back, pulled my katana from its sheath and took a deep breath before stepping inside. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting inside the house.

We were standing in a short, hallway-like space that ended to a stairway. The floor was carpeted and covered in at least an inch of dust that swirled back up into the air with each step I took performing a hypnotic dance in the ray of light let in from the open doorway. Three doorways with doors shut tight broke the smooth expanse of wall on either side, two on the left and one on the right.

I cautiously smelled the air searching for any traces of the sickly sweet smell of rotten flesh that always came from the living dead, but the air only smelled musty and stale.

"You take the room on the right I'll take the room on the left. Yell clear once you're sure that the room's safe." I told Andy over my shoulder.

"Got it," he said. He started to head to the first door on the left he slung his shotgun over his shoulder and casually started humming a tune. He must have sensed what I sensed, that this house was probably empty, but we still had to be careful in case it wasn't.

"Cocky son of a bitch," I muttered. I crossed over to the left-hand room stirring up large clouds of dust as I went. The room itself was a small study of sorts. Bookshelves filled with books covered every wall from floor to ceiling, a large desk with a chair sat in the middle. Before the world ended I might have taken the time to walk over and browse the literature for a few hours but now, I didn't even give them a second glance. Books weren't food, weren't supplies. They couldn't keep you alive.

I turned around and left the room. "Clear!" I called out. I sheathed my katana and leaned against the wall.

Andy stepped out of his room a few heartbeats later. "Clear too," he said. He had also put his gun away and I could see that he had fastened some sort of strap on the side of his pack that held the gun in place. "Wasn't that the room you looked into from outside? I could see the missing board on the window."

"Yep, it was." I replied.

"But if you you knew it was clear, then why did I have to check it?"

"Because you did." I replied. I knew that was the living room I had looked into from outside. I sent him in to see if he was smart enough to figure it out on his own, I guess not.

"What?"

I pushed off from the wall, ignoring his question and headed for the other room beside the stairs. Unlike the other two rooms which had had doorknobs, this door was bare, with a long, thin sheet of metal where the knob should be. Inside was a white linoleum kitchen. All of the drawers and cupboards were still closed.

I turned around to leave the room and ran straight into Andy who must have been looking into the room over my shoulder.

I pushed him roughly aside. "Watch it asshole!" I yelled at him.

He backed up a step, confusion clear on his face. I glared at him, "stay out of my fucking way! It's bad enough I let you convince me to letting you tag along, don't make me change my mind.

"But all I did was stan-" he started to say but one fierce glare from myself had him closing his mouth.

I turned away and stormed up the stairs, with each step my anger faded away into confusion. Thinking back on it, I didn't know why I had snapped at him.

The hallway at the top of the stairs looked a lot like the one on the first floor only this hallway ended with a doorway and only a single door lined each wall.

When Andy came up after me I turned around.

"Look... I'm sorry I yelled."

Surprise crossed his face briefly before he quickly smoothed out his expression and nodded.

"You take the right I take the left?" I said.

He shrugged "Sure."

Feeling slightly less like a dick, I walked over to the left side room. It was a bathroom, small and simple it contained only a toilet, a shower and a simple ceramic sink. The curtain on the shower was white and closed so I walked over and quickly ripped it open.

A small bottle of shampoo sat on the edge of the tub which I pocketed.

"Clear." I called out to Andy and started to leave the room. Before I did something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. It was a mirror above the sink. I starred at the girl reflected back at me. Her eyes were a light hazel and she had a fierce expression on her face. Her black straight hair was roughly, and unevenly cut and barely reached past her small ears. I scowled at her and she scowled back. Suddenly filled with anger I grabbed my knife from my belt and stabbed her right between the eyes. The mirror shattered and she was gone.

With a huff I exited the room. As I was returning my knife to my belt Andy ran out of the room he had been checking.

"What was that noise?" he asked.

"Nothing," I snapped. "How's that room?"

He nodded. "Clear, it's just a bedroom nothing special either, besides a lot of dust."

"Let's just finish checking this last room, I'm hungry and I want to see if there's any food in the kitchen."

"Alright." Andy replied.

The room at the end of the hallway was locked, which was strange because all of the other rooms had been unlocked, even the front door. I knew it was somewhat stupid to go barging into locked room but it had peaked my curiosity. I backed up a step and kicked the door, hard. The loud crack of splintering wood filled the air but nothing happened. I kicked the door again and it flew inwards.

"Holy shit," Andy whispered.

I pretended I hadn't heard him and entered the room. What I saw inside made me stop in my tracks and made my heart clench.

"Andy wait outside," I called out to him.

He ignored me came in anyway.

"Why? What is- oh," he said falling silent.

In the middle of the room was a large bed. On the bed were two skeletons, still clothed, with their hair wreathed around their skulls. It was obvious from the clothing and hair that the one on the right had been a woman and on the left, a man. Their heads lay close together and one of them still had a gun clutched in its skeletal hand. Long-dried blood covered the pillow where the skeletons laid. I'm sure if I had inspected them closer I would have found a bullet hole through both their skulls.

It probably didn't happen too long after Day Zero. As sad as it was it wasn't uncommon to see things like this. People saw the world falling apart around them and felt that death was the only real way to escape.

The couple of bones on the bed had probably seen death way to escape and never be apart.

"Let's go." I said pushing Andy out of the room and shutting the door. I started walking without looking back. I didn't want to think about what I had seen. It was the cowardly way out to kill yourself. I walked back down the stairs building up yet another emotional wall with each step, blocking out the sadness, the fear, the pain, and just focusing on staying alive. I didn't stop to see if Andy was following or not, as of right now, I could care less about what he did. I pushed open the door to the kitchen and pushed the memory of what I had seen in the bedroom out of my mind.

I didn't bother with the fridge, past experiences taught me that, instead I headed straight for the cupboards. Cupboards are where people keep the food that lasts, canned things, bottled liquids, even simple seasonings could be useful. I went straight for the first cupboard I saw and pulled it open. Dishes, cups... nothing useful. I moved on to the next cupboard, empty. Frustrated I slammed it shut. The next two cupboards were similarly bare.

Only the last cupboard held anything good. When I pulled it open I almost smiled. Inside was enough canned food to last two people a good week if it was rationed well.

I turned around to tell Andy but he hadn't followed me into the kitchen.

"Andy?" I called out. No answer. I pushed open the door of the kitchen and looked out into the hallway but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Andy?" I called again. The front door was open so I headed towards it. Stepping outside, I finally spotted him.

He was standing a few yards away with his bow drawn back. As I watched he released the arrow. It flew straight and landed dead center in a clump of already fired arrows in a tree trunk several yards away.

I walked over to him just as he was notching another arrow. "Andy?" I said.

He jumped at the sound of my voice and turned to me.

"What?" he asked his voice strained.

I was a little shocked at his transformation from earlier today. "I found some food in the house," I said watching him carefully. "It's getting late and the sun will be setting soon. We should get inside."

He just nodded, slung his bow back over his shoulder, and went to retrieve his arrows.

I watched him for a few moments before turning away. "Why did I have to get involved in this mess?" I muttered before heading back inside the house.


	4. Chapter 4

I was back in the kitchen trying to pry open a can of baked beans with my knife when Andy walked in. He nodded to me, shrugged his pack off his shoulders. I watched him carefully as he walked over and placed it and his bow near the corner where I had tossed my own pack. I had kept my katana with me. It never left my side.

When I was sure he wasn't going to freak out on me I reached behind me to where I had moved all of the food from the cupboard. Grabbing a random can I tossed to him.

"Thanks," he replied catching it out of the air.

I nodded without looking at him, my attention already back on my own food. It may seem easy but opening a can with just a knife is harder than it looks. I worked out a system over the years but it still took me a good minute to open a single can. With a final twist of the blade, the top of the can popped off.

I didn't really feel like searching the drawers for utensils so I just scooped some of the beans into my mouth with my fingers. The burst of sweetness that filled my mouth from the sugary sauce was heavenly. I started shoveling it down feeling my energy return slightly with each calorie-rich bite. I looked up at Andy and noticed he hadn't moved or even made an effort to open his can. He just stood staring at it like he expected it to do something.

I swallowed the food I had in my mouth. "What's wrong?" I asked.

He looked up a slightly embarrassed look on his face. "Nothing, I'm just not that big of a fan of spinach."

"You can't really afford to be picky in the zombie apocalypse."

Still I reached back and grabbed him another can. "Here," I said tossing it to him after checking the label to make sure I didn't toss him another can of spinach. "How does creamed corn sound?"

He caught it and tossed the can of spinach back.

"Better," he said then after a pause, "thanks."

I caught it easily with my free hand then placed the can back on the counter. I resumed my attack on my beans while Andy pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket. He flipped it open to the can opener attachment and set to work on opening his can. I watched him, slightly jealous as he got his can open in a matter of seconds. I had been searching for a pocket knife for the longest time and I couldn't seem to find one.

I finished off my beans wiping my finger around the inside of the can, trying to get every last bit out of it that I could. Tossing the can in the sink I leaned back against the counter and turned to Andy who was tipping his head back to pour the corn from his can into his mouth.

"So what's your story?" I asked bluntly, crossing my arms in front of my chest. The way I had it figured, if I was going to end up spending more than a day with this guy, I might as well get to know who he is.

He choked on his corn and started coughing. "Excuse me?" he said between coughs, turning to look at me.

"I said, what's your story?"

"Um, I don't have one?" he replied looking uncomfortable with the situation.

I rolled my eyes, "Bullshit, everyone's got a story. So what's yours? How are you still alive?"

I hopped up on the counter and pulled one of my knees up to my chest letting the other dangle off the edge. I got myself into a comfortable position and waited for him to speak.

"Uh... I'm just lucky?" he looked hopeful that I would just drop the whole thing. Like that was going to happen.

I rolled my eyes getting tired of his evasive answers. "You expect me to believe that? No one makes it this far by being 'just lucky'. Luck can get you a week, a month, maybe even a year, if you're really lucky, but not five years. Now tell me, what's your story?"

"I don't know what you want me to say," he set the can of corn down on the floor.

I shrugged, "I don't know, start from the beginning, Day Zero." I replied.

He took a deep, shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Ok, uh... Day Zero... well, you know the general details of what happened that day. No one really knew where the outbreak started but it spread like wildfire. Once you're bitten you turned within 48 hours-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone knows that part. Cut to the chase." I interrupted him.

He rolled his eyes. "I was home with my family that night. It was just me, my mom and dad, and my little sister. We were watching TV when the emergency broadcasts started airing, warning us to stay indoors and avoid anyone showing symptoms. I remember my dad turning off the TV and telling us to go to our rooms and pack a bag nothing but essentials. He looked worried. I remember that that was when I knew something was really wrong because my dad never showed that he was worried."

"We tried leaving the city but all the major roadways were packed with people that had the same idea as us. We turned around and took the one of the country roads out. The first time we came across a zombie was three nights later. We had been living in the car the whole time and had stopped for gas when one of them came out from around the corner of the building. It came from behind so no one noticed it until it was too late."

He paused, his hands starting to shake slightly, before continuing. "My dad was the only one outside of the car at the time. He was filling the car up with gas when it attacked. He managed to fight it off and get back in the car but somehow during the process he was bitten. At the time we had no idea that was how the disease spread so we went on as if nothing had happened."

"Sure enough he started to get sick, fever, chills, hallucinations. You know, the works."

I nodded. I knew the symptoms of a soon-to-be zom.

"When he turned my sister and I were outside somewhere playing. My dad had taken a turn for the worst at the time so we had pulled over and my mom has shooed us away. We weren't anywhere close by him but my mom was tending to him. I remember hearing her scream. I grabbed my sister and ran. I don't know why I didn't go to my mom, it was like some inner instinct."

"We ran and ran until we came across a small town kinda like this one. We survived for almost four years, living on the outskirts, avoiding zombies and Raiders. One day, though, my sister just vanished. I searched every inch of that town and never found a trace of her. After that I just left. Never stopped moving and lived like that until I saw you in that gas station with those zombies." He suddenly fell silent. The air in the room felt heavy and an awkward silence stretched out between the two of us.

"I'm sorry," I finally said breaking the silence.

"What are you sorry about?" He asked rubbing his face with his hands as if ridding himself of the memories.

"Everything you had to go through."

I hopped down off of the counter. "Well I don't much fancy sleeping here on the floor when I have a better option provided to me. You ok taking first watch?" I asked him.

"Yeah, sure." he said distractedly.

I turned to go. "Alright I'm going to go crash on one of the chairs in the living room. Wake me up in a couple of hours."

I started to push open the kitchen door. Just before walking out I heard Andy speak.

"Hey Lauren?"

I stopped and turned around to look at him. "What?"

"Thanks," he said looking down at the ground.

"For what?"

"For not saying it was my fault. With my sister, you know."

I shrugged, "Things happen that you can't blame yourself for"

"Yeah, well goodnight."

"Goodnight Andy." I said and left the kitchen. I walked down the hallway and back into the living room. The leather chairs were still extremely dusty so I selected one and pat it down releasing a cloud of dust that made me cough. Satisfied that the chair was officially de-dustified I curled up on it and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up the next morning to the light shining in through the cracks on the boarded up windows.

"What the? Why didn't Andy wake me up for my turn on watch?" I thought to myself.

I slid off the chair and walked into the hallway. I quickly spotted Andy sitting on the stairs carving patterns into the wood on the bottom step with his pocket knife.

"Why didn't you wake me up for my watch?" I demanded.

"Good morning to you too," he said flicking the knife closed and looking up at me.

I crossed my arms and waited for an answer.

"You looked like you could have used the sleep. Besides I wasn't tired." he said with a shrug.

I groaned. "Next time, wake me up, ok?"

"Whatever you say."

I sighed trying to keep my temper and went into the kitchen. I grabbed the first can I saw and quickly opened it with my knife noticing with a small chuckle that it was spinach.

"What's so funny?" Andy asked coming into the kitchen.

I just shook my head and tilted the can back quickly emptying it. As Andy grabbed a can, I tossed my can away and walked over to where our packs lay against the wall and began putting away what had been taken out.

"What are you doing?" Andy asked.

"Packing up." I told him as I zipped up the last pouch.

"Why?"

"We can't stay here, it's not safe. We have to keep moving. Hurry up and eat, we leave in ten minutes. Pack up what food you can and let's go." Following my own advice I brought my own pack over to the counter and started to shove as many cans into it as I could. I didn't want to leave anything. The more food we had the longer we could survive without having to look for more.

By the time I had had filled my large hiker's pack less than half of the food was left on the counter. Seeing this filled me with a brief spark of pleasure, I knew we could take all the food from the house, it didn't last very long and by the time I turned around I felt myself back into the cloud that seemed to rule my emotions since the day this hell of a world started.

I swung the pack up and onto my shoulders and it nestled comfortably between my shoulder blades and over the flat sheath of my katana. The pack now weighed a good twenty or so pounds. Five years ago, before Day Zero, I wouldn't kid myself in thinking that I would be able to carry a pack that weighed this much for even an hour. Now though, after years of it, my back and shoulders were strong and I had no issue carrying as much as thirty pounds all day.

I gave a final glance back at the remaining cans and at Andy who made eye contact with me and I realized he had been watching me the entire time.

"Ten minutes." I reminded him before leaving the kitchen.

I felt no twinge of regret for leaving this place behind. I'd been in many a house, building, store over the years and as safe as they might feel, as much as I might have wanted to stay, I always forced myself to keep moving.

The sun outside was bright and I had to shield my eyes from the intense rays. It wasn't even two minutes before Andy joined me on the front steps.

"Did you grab all the food?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. I've still got plenty of room in my pack if you want to put some of yours into mine."

"Why? Worried I might run off and leave you with less? I promised to let you stick around and a promise I make is a promise I keep."

"No, I just thought you might like to share some of the weight between us."

Well that was not what I expected. His thoughtful nature caught me off guard. It had been so long since I had met anyone who thought of anyone but themselves and it unnerved me. I sensed he meant more in his statement than genuinely wishing to be nice.

"If you're trying to imply that I can't hold my own because I'm a girl you are seriously mistaking and I'd suggest you change your frame of mind before I cut your balls off." I snapped at him.

He seemed shocked. "That's not what I meant. I just thought we might share some of the weight so neither of us kill ourselves trying to carry more than we can."

"So where to now?" he asked glancing at the zombies in the distance.

"We head in town, follow the main road." I replied.

He shrugged. "You're the boss." he said jokingly.

I rolled my eyes and we started walking. The town was vacant there weren't any zombies around which was making me a little nervous. For an hour or so we walked in total silence, passing by abandoned cars and broken storefront windows.

I heard a noise and held up my hand stopping in my tracks. Andy, who had been looking at a sun bleached poster on a storefront, ran into me.

"What the hell?" he complained loudly.

"Shut up," I snapped. I listened closely and sure enough I heard it again.

"What is it?" Andy asked.

"Zombies." I said pulling my katana out just as the first zombie came running out from around the corner of a building in front of us. It was quickly followed by four more Runners and three regular zombies.

"Oh fuck." I said. I quickly took up my defensive stance with my katana out in front of me.

As I watched the closest zombie went down, an arrow sticking out of the front of its forehead. I glanced over to see Andy drawing back another arrow.

I turned back around. Just as the first zombie reached me. I twirled and swung my katana in a tight arch. The Runner fell forward without a head.

"Two down," I thought "Six to go..."

I watched as Andy took out two more of the Runners in quick succession. "Make that four.

The last Runner came barreling at me. I swung my sword and it toppled to the ground, missing a leg. I sprinted over and quickly brought my sword down on its neck, severing the connection to the brain.

That just left the three lumbering zombies. I glanced at Andy and we made eye contact. He nodded and we attacked. I ran at them sweeping my blade low to the ground. The first zombie fell on stubs for legs and I jumped to the side carefully avoiding its gnashing teeth. I stomped my foot hard on its skull, rotten brain oozing out of the cracks I made, and it stopped moving.

Andy took out one another of them with a well-aimed arrow. He was focus on the thing he had just shot and didn't notice the last one coming up behind him.

"Andy, behind you!" I yelled. He turned, but not soon enough to act as the zombie grabbed him by the shoulders. It was all he could do to keep it from biting him. He struggled with the zombie desperately. I ran over and slashed my blade. At first it looked it looked like I had missed but a moment later the zombie's head roll off its shoulders and onto the street and its body collapsed to the ground.

I turned my blade to Andy. "Did it bite you?" I asked sharply.

He shook his head.

"Good." I wiped my blade on my pants leg and returned it to its sheath.

I cleared my throat. "Let's go. Before any more of them show up."

Andy just nodded. He looked too shocked to speak anyways.

"Hey, you ok?" I asked noticing his pale face.

"I thought I was going to die." he croaked out.

"Well you didn't so come on." I said impatiently heading on. "We need to find someplace to camp for the night."

Another fifteen minutes of walking and we finally found an old church to camp out in. After a can of food each, we settled down for the night.

"I'll take first watch. Get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a few hours." I told Andy.

He nodded gratefully and laid out on one of the pews. A minute later I could hear him snoring.

The hours passed without any incident and after a while I stood up and walked over to Andy's sleeping form. I shook his shoulder until he woke up.

"Wazzat?" he said groggily.

"Your turn for watch."

He yawned and nodded sitting up. I found my own pew and laid down. "You better not fall asleep." I grumbled.

He chuckled but didn't say anything and soon I fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

I was standing on a tight rope stretched between two buildings. My stomach churned when I looked down at the ground hundreds of feet below me. I looked back up to the building directly in front of me and saw Andy standing there. I risked a glance behind me and had to pinwheel my arms to keep from falling off the rope. The roof of the other building was covered in zombies, more grotesque looking than they usually are. A strong gust of wind blew and almost knocked me off again. I struggled to stay on the rope.

"Help me!" I yelled to Andy.

He shook his head and knelt down at the edge of the roof, sawing at the rope with a knife.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" I screamed still struggling to stay on the rope.

He didn't answer or look up at me and the next thing I knew I was falling, the rope cut.

I jolted awake from my dream. I was sweating and out of breath. The sun had just began to rise and the room was still somewhat dark. At first I thought it was the dream itself that had woken me, but then I heard it. The blast of a gun being fired close by.

I quickly scanned the room for Andy and spotted him standing, with his back pressed up against the wall next to the window, with his own gun out. He glanced over at me, pressed his finger to his lips, and carefully inched his head forward so he could peer out the window.

I desperately wanted to know what he was seeing out there but going over to look was too dangerous. So I just clenched my fists and waited.

Eventually Andy pulled back from the window and made his way over to me.

"What's out there?" I asked him in a whisper when he was close enough.

"Raiders." He said. "I counted three."

"Shit," I cursed. "That's not all of them I'll bet. This town's probably crawling with them. We have to get out of here."

"You think?" Andy said.

I racked my brains trying to come up with a plan. "Ok, let's grab our stuff and go. Is there a back exit in this place?"

Andy shook his head. "No."

I groaned "Great, just great. Alright, we'll have to play it by ear then. Stay close behind me got it?"

He nodded.

"Good." I said.

I quietly crept over to where we had laid our packs for the night. I grabbed my pack and swung it over my shoulders, then, careful not to make any noise, I slowly made my way over to one of the shattered windows. Several more loud gunshots rang out and I flinched.

I lifted myself up just enough to see outside and look around. The street looked empty from where I was looking, but I knew better. Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they're not there.

It was risky to leave the building when I couldn't see the Raiders but it would be even more risky to stay here. No doubt they would be checking each building for both supplies and survivors. If they found a survivor they would give them a choice, either join their group or die. Some Raiders wouldn't even give the option a choice, instead taking pleasure in killing. I had come across Raiders enough times over the years to know that you did not want to be caught.

I looked over my shoulder at Andy one more before setting my hands on the sill of the broken window and hoisting my body up and over. My feet loudly crunched into glass that lay on the ground outside and I froze holding up a hand to make sure Andy didn't follow me out yet. I strained my ears listening for any slight sign that the raiders had heard me but the early morning air remained still and quiet. I motioned for Andy to come out and I heard a soft crunch of glass behind me as he landed.

"This way," I said heading to the left at a quick pace staying as low to the ground as I could. I tried to stay behind as much cover as I could, keeping out of sight of the main road. The dim light from the early morning air made it hard to see and I hoped it also made it hard for the Raiders to see us. We hadn't made it more than six yards when I heard voices ahead of us heading our way, followed by another gunshot. I froze and looked around for any possible cover and spotted an overturned FedEx truck. I quickly ducked behind it trusting that Andy would follow my lead.

"How the hell did you miss that one?" An unfamiliar male voice said.

I exchanged a terrified look with Andy. By the sound of it the owner of the voice was just on the other side of the FedEx truck. There was no way we would be able to move anywhere without them seeing us. We were trapped.

"I don't know." A second male voice said.

A pause and then, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what makes you think you get another shot at it? You had your chance and missed so now it's my turn." This from the first voice again.

I cautiously peered around the side of the van. Standing in the middle of the street were two young men. They stood about 20, yards away from zombie girl. She had been a young girl and was so skinny that she had most likely come close to starving to death before she turned.

The guy closest to me held a shotgun and the second guy, a machete. The machete guy casually walked up to the zombie who made a grab at him with her muscle-bare arms. He easily side-stepped the reaching hands and swung hard with his machete at the zombie's legs. The blade cut cleanly through both limbs and the zombie fell to the ground, now legless.

Machete guy walked back to Blondie with a smug look on his face. "Ha! Two legs in one swing! Beat that!"

Blondie looked unimpressed. He shifted his weight to one hip and swung his gun to his shoulder.

"Betcha I can shoot out its teeth without finishing it off."

Machete guy smiled a crooked-toothed smile. "You're on!"

I watched appalled as Blondie walked over to the zombie, who had been attempting to drag itself over to them by its arms, and placed a booted foot on the side of its face. Its teeth worked and gnashed, biting at the air, while its bony hands scratched feebly at Blondie's leg. He took aim, and pulled the trigger. The resounding boom was deafening. True to his word, he managed to blast the zombie's teeth out and shatter a majority of its jaw but it wasn't dead as it was still trying to claw at his leg.

I couldn't watch this anymore. I pulled myself back behind the van. It was horrible. It's one thing to kill zombies out of necessity, it's a whole other thing to kill them as a game like that. I had seen Raider's go horrible things but this was crossing the line. I made to tell Andy what I had just witnessed, but one look at his face and I knew, he had seen the entire thing.

"We have to get out of here," I whispered as loudly as I dared.

"How? They'll see us the moment we move." He whispered back.

"It's still kinda dark and they aren't focused on anything but that zombie." Another loud gunshot followed by a cackle of laughter rang out, seeming to confirm my words. "If we move fast and keep low we should be able to sneak right past them."

"Alright." He said.

"Come on."

I led the way slowly, creeping around the truck and being careful to make sure there was always something between us and the view of the two guys on the street. I felt my tense muscles loosen a bit with each step we took away from the two raiders. Holy shit it actually worked.

We were almost at the corner of the street when another Raider came out from around the corner of the building in front of us. How he missed seeing us, I cannot say, but I knew he would cause problems if he did manage to spot us.

I turned toward Andy and pointed at the Raider, made a slicing motion at my throat, then pointed at myself hoping he would understand. I was trying to tell him, without words, that I was going to try and take out the guard. He nodded and started to reach back for his bow. I shook my head and he stopped. I motioned for him to stay here. Then, I turned around and slowly made my way over to the Raider who had stopped walking to watch the quickly rising sun spill light over the surrounding buildings.

I crept up until I was close enough to touch him, all the while hoping that he wouldn't suddenly turn around. I sprang up quickly wrapping my arms tightly around his throat. He struggled, kicking and scratching, but I held on for dear life. After a while his struggling slowed and finally stopped. I laid his limp body on the ground, gave the area one last sweep to make sure no one had seen me, and waved Andy over. We both took off running leaving the town and the Raiders behind.

On and on we ran, following the main road out of town until we were well outside of the city limits. When we finally did stop I collapsed to the ground, rolling on my back and gasping for air like a fish out of water. My legs felt like they were made of rubber. I hadn't run that fast and that far in a very long time.

"That. Was a. Close one." Andy gasped out between heaving breaths. He was standing next to me, hunched over with his hands on his knees.

I laughed and put my hand over my eyes to block out the sunlight. "Yeah, let's try to avoid situations like that next time."

I sat still for a while, lying on my back. Masses of pebbles on the asphalt dug painfully into my back but I didn't feel like moving.

"What now?" Andy asked.

I uncovered my eyes and looked up. Andy was standing over me. He held out a hand to help me up.

I ignored it and pushed myself to my feet. It's not that I was blatantly trying to be mean, I just didn't like taking help from people when I didn't need it.

When I was standing again I looked around. The highway was lined by a thick forest on either side.

I sighed already feeling the exhaustion from the day settle into my body. "We keep moving. The greater distance between us and the Raiders back there the better."

"After you."

I glared at him. I wanted to say something but I just didn't have the energy to be angry right now. So instead I just started walking again without saying a word.

We walked for several hours in complete silence. I glanced over at Andy walking beside me. He looked as tired as I felt and, with the sun close to setting, I was glad we would be stopping soon. As I looked at him I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time. Trust. Maybe it was because I hadn't had someone around that didn't want to kill me at the first chance they got. Either way, I trusted him and, call me stupid for it, but I felt like I needed to do something I hadn't done for anyone else before.

I told him my story from Day Zero

"Boston," I said.

"Huh?" He said looking surprised to have heard me speak.

"Boston, that's where I'm from." I kicked a rusted out can that lay on the road and enjoyed the hollow metallic clunking it made as it skittered away from me.

"O-kay?" I could tell he was unsure why I was saying this.

"That's where I was the day the outbreak started," I continued. I risked a glance at him and saw his eyes were wide in surprise. He must not have expected me to ever tell him what happened to me.

"At the time it was just me and my grandparents living in a small house. I was always the outdoorsy type who liked to go on camping trips every chance I got so I really wasn't in town on the actual Day Zero. By the time I returned to town I knew something was wrong because there wasn't anyone around. Usually the town is full of people, Boston was a fairly popular tourist spot, but that day, I didn't see a soul."

"I remember pulling into my driveway and seeing the door to my house swung wide open. I knew something terrible had happened. My grandparents never left their door open, call them over-paranoid but they just never left it open. When I walked inside the house the first thing I noticed was the blood. It was everywhere, splattered on the walls, and the ceiling, and there was a smear of it leading into the living room. It looked like something had been had been dragged across the floor. I knew I shouldn't have but I followed the trail into the living room. I was hoping that they were alright, that this was all a prank or something but it wasn't. Beside the couch, I saw...I saw..." I couldn't seem to make myself say the next words. Images and scenes from that night flashed vividly in my mind I felt like I was there: back in that horrible nightmare of a day. I couldn't go on. It had been a bad idea to open up like that.

"You saw what?" Andy inquired softly and I jumped. I forgot he was there for a moment.

I shook my head and felt tears brimming in my eyes. "It always helps to talk about it."

I didn't say anything for a while. I was trying to build back up my inner wall that always helped me cope, that helped me block out my emotions. Without that inner wall I was sure I would have broken down by now, maybe even killed myself like that skeleton couple had. The wall helped me survive.

When I finally spoke again my throat was still tight from trying not to cry and it felt like I had to force out each word. "I saw my grandmother bent over my grandfather on the floor just tearing his insides out and chewing on them like some kind of deranged animal. I thought I heard someone screaming, and then I realized it had been me. The next thing I knew my grandmother was no longer eating my grandfather. She was coming towards me, her mouth and shirt-front covered in my grandfather's blood. I ran from her, into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. I don't know why. I guess, deep down, I had known that she wasn't my grandmother anymore and I was terrified. She followed me into the kitchen. I warned her to stay back, pleaded with her, but she wouldn't listen."

"I had no choice. She was going to kill me. I drove that stupid fucking knife into her skull again and again and again until she stopped moving. After that I ran. I almost passed by it but my better judgment told me to go into the weapons store that was just down the street. All of the guns had already been looted but there was still this." I motioned to my katana, "So I grabbed it, left the town, and never looked back."

When I stopped talking I realized that I had started crying. I wiped the tears angrily from my face. Now that I had finished I felt better, like a weight that had been holding me down had finally been lifted.

Andy was silent for a few moments before he spoke, "Lauren, I had no idea. I'm-"

"No. Don't you dare say you're sorry for me. I don't need anyone's pity." I snapped.

He didn't reply to that.

I glanced up at the sun which was beginning to set. "We should probably make camp for the night."

We found a place off to the side of the road among the trees. Andy gathered dry wood while I got a fire going using the flint and steel I had. It took several tries to get the tinder going. Neither of us spoke for the rest of the night. After a canned food dinner, I laid down next to the fire while Andy started his watch. I was so exhausted from the day that I fell asleep in minutes.


	6. Chapter 6

Andy woke me up around one in the morning to start my turn on watch. I stretched trying to break free from the clutches of sleep. I stood up slowly and walked over to lean up against a tree while Andy took his turn at sleep next to the fire.

The first hour seemed to crawl by and I almost nodded off more than once. After the third time I shook my head and stood up.

I had to do something or I knew I'd fall asleep. I glanced around the camp Andy and I had set up and noticed that the fire had burnt down to just a few glowing embers.

Perfect. I walked out into the trees around our camp and gathered up as much dry wood as I could carry in my arms. Returning to the fire I set down my load of sticks and set to work rekindling the flames. After a few minutes I had a formidable fire, crackling and popping again. Satisfied and now wide awake, I went back to my spot leaning against the tree.

A twig snapped nearby to my right and I turned my head towards it, my hand resting on the hilt of my katana, but the flash of a red, bushy, black tipped tail in the bushes allowed me to relax again. Just a fox.

The animals were the lucky ones. The virus didn't have any hosts, other than humans, that we knew of. Sure animals had to watch out for a zombie's hungry mouth as much as we did, but they didn't seem to have much trouble avoiding them. In fact, I was glad to see the fox. Her presence here meant that there weren't any zombies nearby. I leaned my head back against the tree and waited for morning to come.

The sky began to turn pink several hours later marking the first signs that dawn was close. I stood, up, stiff from having sat in the same position for so long, and walked over to here Andy lay sprawled out on his back, a trail of drool trailing out of his mouth.

I kicked him in the leg. "Oi, wake up." I said loudly.

He snorted and his eyes flew open.

"C'mon Sleeping Beauty, get up. It's time to get moving."

I turned away from him and started disassembling the camp while Andy sat up and stretched.

I kicked dirt over the fire that had had burnt down to a pile of embers once again. Then I gathered up our stuff and packed it away. By the time I had finished everything Andy was ready to go. We grabbed our packs and set off down the road again.

The first hour or two passed in silence. Andy was still groggy from sleep, and to be honest, the silence was nice. At least at first it was. After about the third hour of walking I couldn't stand it anymore so I decided to start up a conversation.

"Where'd you learn to shoot?"

"What was that?" Any asked. He had been focusing on the road ahead, I had drawn him out of his thoughts.

"I asked you where you learned to shoot like that. I know it doesn't come naturally."

"Oh, I uh- I used to go out hunting with my dad a lot before... you know." He shrugged "We used to be really close."

"I see." I said. "I never got to know my dad... or my mom for that matter. They died when I was young. I was raised by my grandparents."

"Oh." I could tell he wanted to say more but he had the sense to keep his mouth shut.

An awkward silence fell between us then. I glanced over at Andy. He walked with his head down, watching his feet move with each step. I sighed and looked ahead, down the stretch of road we had been walking on. The dark smudged outline of something dominated much of the horizon. The haze of heat on the horizon blurred the shape, so I couldn't be sure of what it was.

"Hey Andy, do you see that? In the distance over there."

He looked up squinting his eyes. "Yeah I do. What do you think it is?"

I shrugged. "Don't know but we'll find out soon enough."

"Might be something useful."

"Might be."

It was another two hours or so before we reached it. It was small town, not much bigger than the one we had just escaped from. Shops lined the street and right in the middle of the street was an over-turned semi-truck. It had fallen over so that the top was facing us and the wheels were on the other side.

The truck completely blocked the road, stretching from building to building.

"We'll have to climb over it." I told Andy. "I'll climb up first and then I'll pull you up."

"Alight," he replied.

I crossed over to the truck. It wasn't too high. With a good enough jump I would be able to grab the top and pull myself up.

I took a deep breath, backed up a few steps, and ran forward launching myself into the air. For a second I thought I might have undershot but my fin ergs managed to snag the cold metal edge.

Once I was on the roof of the truck I stood up and looked out. The town was even smaller than it had seemed from the other side. Nothing but small shops lined the street and houses were few and far between.

Abandoned cars lined the road, some of them crashed and at least one of them was nothing but a black, charred, metal skeleton. A few zombies shuffled through the maze of vehicles.

"Are you going to help me up or are you just going to stand there sight-seeing all day?" Andy called up.

"Sorry," I said and knelt down reaching out a hand to him.

He grabbed on with his left hand and I braced my legs as I began to pull him up. As I was doing this, the sleeve on his arm slipped down slightly and what I saw on his skin made me let go of his hand and pulled out my katana.

He fell back to the ground with a loud, "Oof," landing on his ass.

"What the hell was that ab-" he started but cut off when he saw me standing with my katana out and fury burning in my eyes.

"I thought you said that zombie didn't bite you!"

"It didn't! What are you talking abou- oh," he cut off and his eyes darted to his wrist where half of the bite was still clearly visible. He quickly pulled the sleeve back down hiding it once again.

"Lauren, wait it's not like that." His eyes were pleading.

"How is it not like that Andy? I know a fucking bite when I see one!"

"Christ just let me explain! That zombie didn't bite me." His anger jut made me even more furious.

He was the one who lied to me! He had no right to be mad. "Tell the fucking truth, Andy. I saw the bite, damn it!"

"Yes it's a bite, but wasn't that zombie that bit me... It, happened two weeks ago,"

His answer caught me off guard and my confidence wavered. "What?"

"I said I was bitten two weeks ago."

Anger flared back up inside of me. "Don't fucking lie to me! Everyone who's bit turns within forty-eight hours, now tell me the truth!"

He looked me straight in the eye. "I. Am." He said.

I stared at him for a while. I've always been good at being able to tell when someone is lying to me, and right now, Andy wasn't.

I let the tip of my katana droop until it was resting on the roof of the truck. My hands began shaking slightly as my brain tried to wrap around the information. "But... how is that possible?"

Andy sighed, "I don't know for sure, but if you'd just listen to me, I can explain to you what I do know."

I didn't say anything I just nodded, sheathed my katana, and bent down again this time helping him all of the way upon to the truck.

"Alright, start talking."

He took a deep breath before beginning. "When I found you I had already known about my, we'll I guess you could call it, immunity to the virus. I had been bitten for about a week and a half then and I wasn't in that town coincidentally. You see, I was looking for something, a sight a glimmer of proof that New Eden truly existed."

"New Eden? What the hell's a New Eden?" I interrupted.

"It's supposed to be the last community of humans left on earth. Completely free of zombies."

"And how do you know about this 'New Eden'?"

"You hear things. Raiders talk, other survivors talk, and people always leave signs, little clues that it exists."

I snorted, "You're placing your trust on something you overheard a group of Raiders say? Man you really are crazy."

He glared at me. "Stop calling me crazy."

I glared back. "Then don't do stupid shit."

He didn't reply to that and the anger flowery faded from his eyes.

I sighed. As much as I didn't want to believe Andy right now, this 'New Eden' sounded nice. It would be great to not have to fight so hard to survive every single day anymore. To have life go back to something like it used to be. "You really think it exists?" I asked him.

"I really think so, yes."

What I said next went against all my better judgment. "Fine, then we will look for this 'New Eden' of yours. But do yourself a favor, stay away from me for a while. You may be immune to the zombie bites but piss me off, and you won't be immune to a slashed throat in your sleep." And with that I hopped down off the other side of the truck and started walking away.


	7. Chapter 7

I had to be alone for a while. Clear my head. I walked over to an alley between two buildings. By climbing on top of an old, rusting, dumpster and then hooking my fingers into the natural ledges and upraised patterns in the side of the building, I managed to get up to the roof of an arcade. The interior of the building, had been absolutely destroyed, but the damage inside didn't affect the stability of the structure.

I closed my eyes, feeling the wind on my face. It helped me think. Why hadn't he told us? And to think I trusted him.

A sudden rage filled me at that thought. I had let him lie to me. Let him make a fool of me. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dig painfully into the skin on my palms.

"Stop it." I muttered out loud. "You would have done the same thing if you had been in his position."

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. The roof of the building adjacent to the one I was on was close. Without a second thought I took a few running steps, and jumped.

I soared through the air my mind clearing as adrenaline rushed through my veins. I landed on the other roof and softening my impact by tucking my body into a roll. My heart was racing with the excitement of the jump. I straightened back up and sprinted the length of the roof gravel stones crunching underfoot.

I jumped from rooftop to rooftop for three more building lengths before I could go no further. A road separated the building I was on from the next one and there was no way I could clear it.

Slightly out of breath, but still not anywhere near calm, I drew my katana out of its sheath. It really was a thing of beauty. The handle was black leather and though it was worn from use, it was in excellent condition. The blade was as sharp as a razor.

I lifted it and slashed it down and to the left. The blade found no resistance as it cut through the air with a soft whoosh. I pulled my elbows closer to my body and pivoted in a spin cutting the blade through the air in a tight maneuver. For the next hour I practiced with my blade performing complex slashes and moves, some of them even involving me to spring up into the air in a tight flip or roll while slashing at whatever was below.

By the time I had finished, the sun was beginning to set. Sweat poured down my face and soaked my shirt but I was remarkably calmer. I re-sheathed my katana and took a deep breath ready to go back and face Andy.

I walked over to the side of the building that looked out over the alley and smiled when I saw a fire escape. I swung down onto it and the metal groaned loudly in protest under my weight and I froze in place.

"Please hold, please hold, please hold." I repeated over and over as I slowly crept down the ladder but the loud screech of tearing metal resonated through the air and I was falling the last eight or so feet to the ground.

I landed on my back and all the air was knocked out of my lungs. I tried to suck in a breath but my lungs didn't seem to want to cooperate. Above me, the fire escape had partially torn away from the wall and bent at an almost ninety degree angle.

I laid staring up at the orange sky still trying to get my breathing back to normal. A loud groan made me snap my head up. Two zombies were heading straight towards me, attracted by the loud sound of my fall. Crap.

I scrambled to my feet and pulled out my katana, almost dropping the blade at the pain that ripped through my side as I tried to lift

The first zombie, guy in a torn and tattered business suit who was missing an arm, came charging at me. I swung my katana at his neck.

The pain from the effort was so intense I almost passed out. Black spots swam in front of my vision and I fell to one knee with a gasp. I fought to remain conscious when I felt the second zombie grab me. Falling backward, I pushed out blindly with my arms. The rush of adrenaline cleared my vision and I could see a girl zombie above me, her brown hair fell toward my face. Her teeth clacked and snapped as she strained to bite me.

My katana had fallen out of my hand when I had fallen backwards and was now far out of my reach. I searched frantically around for a weapon, anything to get her off of me. I spotted a broken brick to my left and reached out a hand desperately. My fingers closed around it and I smashed it against her head knocking her off.

She fell sideways, landing on her back. I was on her in an instance smashing the brick into her face again and again until her head was nothing but a pulverized pile of rotten goop. I stepped back from the mangled mess of the zombie girl, the brick rolling from my fingers. I hadn't meant to go that far, it was like I had been outside of my own body watching but unable to control whatever had taken over me.

I wanted to run from the alley but I had to find my katana. Desperately searching around I found it against the wall of the brick building.

It took me an hour to find Andy but when I did he was searching through an old, rundown coffee shop. I could have found him sooner if it weren't for the fact that my ribs hurt like hell.

Andy was behind the counter looking through cabinets for supplies. He looked up as I entered.

"There you are. I was beginning to think you'd left for good." he said.

"Yeah well, I'm here now aren't I?" I replied dismissively and limped my way over to the far wall. I slid off my pack and sat down, gritting my teeth to keep from crying out.

"Lauren, what's wrong?" Andy asked. He hopped over the counter and started walking towards me.

"Don't, just...stay away from me right now." I didn't want him anywhere near me, not after everything he'd done.

"But your hurt-" he started to say, then realization dawned on his face. "Are you bitten?" he asked.

"No I'm not bitten." I snapped at him a little harsher than I intended. "I just fell and... bruised my ribs."

"Oh, well that's good." he said.

"Good?"

"That you're not bitten."

"Yeah, sure." I grumbled.

I leaned my head back against the wall. The place was so quite I could have dozed off but there was a question that I had been meaning to ask Andy that was bothering me. He was leaning against the opposite wall, an empty can of green beans next to him, flicking his pocket knife open and closed.

Knowing full well that I might regret this later, I struggled to my feet and limped over to him sitting down on the wall next to him.

He looked at me surprised. "Don't think this means you're forgiven. "I just wanted to know, how it happened." I gestured to the spot on his wrist where the bite was.

"Oh, I uh. I'd rather not talk about it."

"Either tell me or next time I leave, I won't come back. That's a promise."

"Fine." He said.

I smiled slightly, triumphant.

"So you know how I told you that I never found my sister after I lost her?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Well I lied. I did eventually find her, about two weeks ago. I couldn't stand the guilt anymore so I went back to the town that we had staked out in all those years. For weeks I searched that town again, and it was no different than before...until I checked one of the places that she had loved to go to be alone. An abandoned playground behind a school. I was so stupid for not checking there the first time."

"When I first found her she had her back to me so I didn't known...I didn't know..." he fell silent staring at the far wall "I called out her name and started running to her. I was so happy, after all these months everything was going to be alright again. I had found my little sister. But when she turned around I stopped. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. She was a zombie, and a Runner at that. She screeched and ran at me."

"I remember scrambling to pull out my shotgun, I didn't have time for my bow, and by the time I got it out she had rammed into me we tussled for a while on the ground until I managed to push her off and shot her in the head."

"I hadn't even felt it when she bit me, all the adrenaline I guess. I just remember looking down and seeing it on my wrist. I considered ending it there, putting the gun against my head and pulling the trigger, but the way I had it figured, I had brought this upon myself for being a lousy brother. I had to live with the consequence."

"I dug a grave and buried her. I even nailed two boards together as a grave stone so everyone would know she was buried there. When I didn't turn I hated myself for it. I fled the city for the last time and came across another and found you." He stopped and wiped the tears from his eyes. "There, now you know the real story."

I didn't know what to say. What do you say to a story like that?

"So where is this New Eden of yours?" I asked choosing to change the subject.

He shook his head, "Somewhere out west, I don't really know for sure."

"Well that's a whole lot of help. Whatever, I'm going to get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll head west, I guess." I walked back to the wall where I had been before and laid down, careful to avoid the side with my bruised ribs.

"Goodnight Lauren." Andy said.

"Goodnight Andy." I replied.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up the next morning and was briefly annoyed that Andy hadn't woken me up.

I sat up wincing slightly, and glanced around. Andy was laying on his back tossing a can of food up into the air and catching it. I cleared my throat.

He caught the can one final time and glanced over at me. "Oh good you're awake." he said sitting up.

"Why didn't you let me take my turn on watch? Didn't I tell you not to do that?" I said angrily.

He simply shrugged. "You were hurt and needed the sleep more than I did."

I glared at him. "Do it again and I-"

"I know, I know. You'll slit my throat in my sleep."

I scowled at him, before turning away and grabbing a can of food from my pack. We were starting to run low and would have to go looting again within the week.

After a quick meal, I slowly rose to my feet careful not to bump my injured side.

I hated the fact that I was injured. Injures slow you down and can get you killed. In a way I was actually glad Andy was with me now. Another set of eyes around might make up for the drawbacks being injured would cause.

My pack felt twice as heavy even with half as much in it. It took all my willpower just to get it on my back. I knew Andy was watching me but I didn't want to seem like I was incapable of carrying my fare share.

Without so much as a glance back at Andy, Took a deep breath and walked out of the coffee shop. There were two or three zombies moving through the cars but most of them from yesterday were nowhere to be seen. They must've been draw away by something. I shrugged, works for me.

Andy joined me a moment later. I didn't look at him, I just started walking west, down the sidewalk.

He tried a few times to start up a conversation but he eventually gave up and fell into silence.

We passed by shattered storefronts, and abandoned cars. One building we passed was nothing but a charred pile of rubble. Most of the zombies we passed didn't see us and the ones that might have, were easy to avoid. I saw one zombie in one on the cars that we passed. It was, or used to be an elderly woman still buckled into her seat. She saw us as we passed and moaned loudly, reaching out as if to pull us in and bite us.

We hadn't been walking for more than half an hour Andy suddenly stopped beside me. He was frozen in place, staring at something a crossed the road from us. I followed his line of sight and what I saw broke my heart.

On the other side of the street, almost hidden behind a car, stood a zombie. She didn't look like she was much older than six years old. She had long straight brown hair, and she wore a pink polka dot night gown that was spattered with dry blood. Clutched in one of her hands was a blood stained teddy bear. Every once and a while she would twitch.

Over the years I had seen countless zombies, but the kids were always the hardest to see. They were innocent, not a care in the world other than trying to figure out what toy to play with next. When the outbreak started the outbreak started the children were some of the first to go. They would try to run to parents and relatives who had turned, not knowing any better. Those who survived the initial chaos of the outbreak, didn't last very long.

"Andy?" I said gently pulling on his sleeve.

He didn't respond to my touch. He just stood as if frozen in place staring at the zombie girl. "Andy, we have go."

"She looks like her." he said.

"Who?" I asked though I had a pretty good idea of who this zombie supposedly looked like.

"Abigail."

I had no idea what to say to that. I looked back once at the zombie girl clutching the doll.

Luckily I didn't have to come up with something to say because at that moment a shot rang out from somewhere close by followed by a loud scream. The zombie turned around sharply. Then she broke into a sprint heading away from us and letting out an inhuman wail.

"That wasn't a zombie," I said, referring to the scream we had heard. "And that wasn't far away."

I turned back to Andy. "We have to go, that noise's going to draw every zombie in the area right to us.

He only nodded.

"This way," I said taking the lead.

We traveled faster now, wanting to get out of the city as quickly as possible. We passed by several Runners and regular zombies all heading towards where we had heard the scream come from. We were almost to the end of a street when I heard voices ahead of us. I stopped quickly straining to hear where the voices were coming from. They were close, somewhere to our left.

"Raiders?" Andy whispered from behind me.

I nodded, looking for someplace to hide. The shops on this stretch of road were too close together for there to be any alleyways to duck into. The only promising cover appeared to be a shattered storefront window.

"If we can make it over to that without being seen, we might have a chance of getting out of here alive." I whispered back to Andy.

He shook his head. "Are you nuts? We'll be sitting ducks in there."

"Well do you have a better idea?" I snapped. "Besides there might be a back exit that we can use."

He considered that for a moment before nodding reluctantly. "Alright. Let's do it."

I slowly began to make my way over to the store with the window, which was about two buildings away from us. Keeping low to the ground and being careful not to make any noise we made it to the store without being spotted.

"Hey did you hear that Todd finally killed that bitch that had been camping down by Park Street?" The vague silhouettes of three figures stood beside an overturned pickup truck.

"I sure as hell heard it, what happened?" said a second voice.

"Apparently Todd had found her base. He wai-" I never heard the rest of the story because I had reached the broken window. I swung myself up and over the window ledge and landed on the other side in a crouch. My feet landed on the broken glass and crunched loudly. I heard and saw Andy swing himself over and land with a crunch beside me.

I strained my ears. The muffled voices outside hadn't changed and I breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't heard us.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" said a deep voice from behind us. "A couple of lost souls trying to find their way?

I froze. The blood in my veins turning to ice.

Turning around slowly my eyes were met by the ugliest man I had ever seen. His face was heavily scarred with a spider web of lines, he had one brown eye and one milky white eye, and he had stringy blonde hair that reached his shoulders.

"Hello sweetie." He said to me with a smile that revealed blackened teeth. He lifted a long segment of lead pipe and the last thing I saw was the swing of his arm before I felt a blinding pain on my left temple and everything went dark.


	9. Chapter 9

Several hours later, I groggily opened my eyes and looked around only to have my eyes fly open when I remembered what had happened. I was in a Raider's camp. Panic flared inside of me and I tried to stand up but I couldn't. I was sitting on an old wooden chair with my hands tied behind my back, I struggled against the rope around my wrists but they were well tied, tight and secure.

Giving up, I looked around the room. It was some kind of storage space, the concrete floor was stained with old grease, the walls were metal and unfinished-looking, wooden beams of the wall's structure visible. There were no windows and only one door on the far side. A single naked light bulb hung down from the ceiling bathing the room in a dim light. The door knob began to turn and I snapped my attention to it.

In walked the scar-faced man. I glared at him, putting as much fury into my eyes as I could but inside my heart was pounding. He made eye contact with me and a slight smile broke out on his hideous face. Somehow smiling made him look even uglier.

"Oh good, I was beginning to think you would never wake up. Now," he clapped his hands. Let's get started then shall we?" He crossed over to me. As he approached the foul odor coming off of his body wafted over me like a wave. He smelled worse than a zombie did and I had to fight back a gag. It smelled like he hadn't bathed since Day Zero.

"Let's make this simple. I'm going to ask you a few questions, answer them truthfully and you walk out of here alive. Lie, and well..." he smiled a small smile and winked. "I think you know what happens then."

I didn't say anything. I glared at him and his scarred, filthy face. He took my silence as a sign of my agreement he continued.

"First question then. Where are you going?"

I set my mouth in a firm line. I wasn't going to answer any of the questions this bastard asked me.

He waited a moment for me to speak. When I didn't he said, "I'll ask it again, where are you going? You obviously have a destination in mind, so where is it?"

Instead of answering I looked away from him and away stared at the grease stain on the floor.

I heard him sigh, "Alright let's try this differently. Where's New Eden?"

My head snapped back up in surprise. Andy had been telling the truth. There was a New Eden. But where was Andy?

His smiled at how I had reacted. "Ah there it is. Heading to New Eden, are we?" His smile vanished as quickly as it had come. "Where is it?"

I kept my mouth shut refusing to answer and anger slowly filled the man's eyes. My mind was racing. What would a low-life Raider want with New Eden? How did he know that we were heading there?

"I'm losing my patience with you girl. I'll give you to the count of three to start talking." He held up a hand with three fingers up.

"One." He put one finger down.

"Two." He put a second finger down so that only one finger remained raised from his pudgy fist.

I made myself stare directly into his eyes putting as much hatred and furry behind them as I could.

"Three." He put his final finger down forming a fist and threw it at my face. I didn't have time to react to the oncoming punch and it connected hard with my nose. I felt the cartilage breaking under the force. The pain was intense and blood from my broken nose started running down my face. My eyes watered at the pain.

Through my blurry eyes I faintly registered that he had pulled his fist back for another swing before I felt it slam into my stomach. My body instinctively wanted to double over but the ropes keeping my Hands behind the chair kept me from going down more than a few inches. I wheezed trying to catch my breath and fought the urge to throw up.

He pushed my shoulder back against the chair, forcing me to sit upright. His face was mere inches from mine. "Now, let's try again shall we? Where's New Eden?"

"Go to hell." I said. I worked up a mouthful of a mixture of blood and saliva and spat it in his face.

"You bitch!" he hissed. He raised his hand and slapped me across the face. I turned my head with the blow to lessen some of the force.

He stormed over to the door. "We're not finished here." He said before walking out and slamming the door behind him.

Nothing below is edited.

I glared at the door that he had just exited from, my cheek still stinging. I looked around the room again looking for anything to help me when I spotted a single nail sticking out an inch from one of the wooden beams that made up the wall.

Glancing back at the door, I tried scooting my chair over to the nail. The wooden legs made a loud screech, like nails scraping over a chalkboard, as it dragged along the concrete. I winced and waited to hear the sound of someone coming to check out the sound but nothing came. With little hop-like movements I could cover an inch or so of distance at a time. It took me about fifteen minutes to cross the four foot distance and turn myself around so that my bound hands were positioned by the nail.

I began to move my hands back and forth over the nail, slowly cutting through the ropes a fiber at a time. It took another twelve minutes of sawing before I had finally cut through. I stood up and rubbed my wrists which were red from the tight ropes, before walking quickly over to the door.

I turned the handle both surprised and relieved to find the door unlocked. They must not have thought I would be able to escape the bonds. The room outside of the one I have been tied up in was large and spacious and empty.

Straight ahead of me was a small door. I headed for it moving quickly and quietly, listening for any sounds that anyone was nearby. When I reached the door I paused for a brief moment before pulling it open and stepping outside.

The area was surrounded by several large warehouses and a few residential houses to the right. Two Raiders stood short ways front of me, both were holding large guns.

I tried to creep past them past them, heading towards the houses. The warehouses were where the Raiders had probably set up camp and I wanted to put as much distance between myself and them.

"Yeah, Joseph brought in those two kids a few hours ago. Beat up that one guy over in the basement pretty bad asking him about that 'New Eden'. Heard he was going to try the girl in the warehouse next. If you ask me, it's all just a bunch of bullshit."

I froze. 'The boy' they had talked about must be Andy! I ducked behind a tree pressing by back into the rough bark as the two Raiders moved on, heading towards the more of the warehouses. They had said something about a basement.

I looked around. In front of one of the houses stood a single Raider who was standing guard. Houses have basements and I didn't think a Raider would be standing guard for no reason.

I made my way over to the house using bushes, buildings, and anything else I could for cover. I kept thinking about all the terrible things that could have happened to Andy, all anger I had fled from him lying to me was completely forgotten.

The guard in front of the house held an automatic rifle and was pacing back and forth in front.

When he started his procession away from me again I made my move. I came up behind him, wrapped one arm around his neck and one around his jaw and twisted sharply. A loud snap sounded from his body and I let him fall to the ground dead, his neck broken. I dragged his body out of sight and stopped, looking down at him. He hadn't been much older than myself. Maybe, in years earlier I might have felt sad or sickened at killing another human being but now, and I stared at this dead body, I felt nothing. He had a knife strapped to his belt which I promptly took before turning away and walking into the house

"Hang in there Andy." I whispered. "I'm on my way.

Once inside I walked down a hallway with stained white walls and a heavily-stained, ratty, brown carpet that turned sharply left after a few feet. It took me a few tries to find the right door that led down to the basement.

I descended the stairs placing each of my feet down carefully so that the wooden steps wouldn't creak. The basement was almost pitch dark and completely empty except for a small window on the far side that was covered in so much dirt, almost no light shined through.

I ran a hand along the wall searching for a light switch. I flicked I on when I found it.

In the middle of the room sat Andy. He was tied to a chair in the same way I had been. He was slumped over, unconscious, and looked in bad shape. Bruises covered his face and arms and blood trickled down his face from a cut above his eyebrow. His lip was split and swollen.

"What the hell did them you to you Andy?" I muttered to myself.

I walked over to him and started to untie his hands. His wrists were red and raw against the rope. He started to stir just as I finished cutting through the tight knots.

"Lauren?" He mumbled, his voice slightly slurred. "What...?"

"Shut up," I whispered. "I'll explain later but now, we have to get out of here. Can you walk?"

He nodded and slowly stood up from the chair. It was obvious that he was in a lot of pain, but he seemed determined.

I nodded. "Good, let's move."

I lead the way up the stairs with the knife at the ready. Andy limped slowly behind me. We started down the disintegrating hallway that I had entered from. As we passed by an open doorway I froze. Something in the room had caught my eye.

"Hold up." I said turning back. The room was in just as bad off shape as the hallway, if not, worse. The walls had peeling floral wallpaper that was spotted with mold. The carpet had been ripped away some time ago revealing a rotten, wooden floor underneath. The only other thing in the room was an old wooden table that had a large part of one of the corners broken off. On the table lay two packs, a gun, a bow, and a katana. They must have dragged Andy in here first, and deposited the things they took from us in this room.

My katana was lying in the middle of the table and I hurriedly the sheath back around my chest. I slung my own pack over my shoulders and grabbed Andy's pack and bow before leaving the room. His eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of his pack and bow. I helped him put his on his things, he winced as the weight of his hit his shoulders.

We exited the house and made our way out of the area as quickly and quietly as we could. Andy was limping heavily which forced us to go slower than I would have liked. It wasn't until we were quite a ways away from the Raider's camp, that we heard shouting.

"I guess they've finally figured out that we've escaped huh?" I said turning to Andy. He only nodded. His face worryingly pale.

A half hour of nerve wrenching travel through the small city, and we were clear of the buildings and into the forest. By the time we found a well-sheltered clearing, Andy had lost almost all the color in his face. The cut above his eye had opened up again and thin trail of blood crept down his face. As I began to set up a fire, Andy slung off his pack and bow and collapsed from exhaustion. Within minutes he was asleep. I didn't try to wake him. After the beating he received, he deserved the rest.

Once the fire was lit, I checked on Andy. The cut above his eye wasn't deep and it had already stopped bleeding again. His face and arms were still heavily bruised. I was angry that this had happened. I was the one who wanted to hide in that store. If I had listened to Andy none of this would have happened.

I couldn't sleep with the possibility of the Raiders snooping around and finding us again, so I found a tree to lean against to wait until morning.


End file.
